Continued Ph issues after many adjustments

[Vdlibrtr]

Hey all, so this has been like a 6 month struggle for me, I had a crash in December cuz of a lapse in judgement and been slowly battling my way back.

So here's where I am, I was battling really low ph, like 7.6 as a high in my tank in december, ended up grabbing a second probe for redundancy, same reading. then I added a skimmer and opened the windows to my person and pet filled apartment, nothing changed, I then added a closed loop co2 scrubber onto the skimmer, that raised my ph up to about 7.8 as a high. I then started looking into kalk dosing to make up the rest. It ran at an awesome 8.2 throughout the day, and would dip to maybe 8 at night, been trying to dial in the dosage to get the ph to swing less....

so cut to a week ago and ive been running my kalk stirrer for about 3 months or so, I did an ICP test and was deficient in some trace elements, everything else was good. ive been testing my phos and nitrates, trying to get my nitrates up, keep my phos between .03-.06 and focus less on alk and more on ph (alk would rise to about 12.5 on occasion but everything was super happy). I then started dosing meerwasser for those trace elements it has mainly because a frogspawn was starting to get ticked and my gonis weren't growing very well. afterwards I started to noticed my Ph dropped to 7.9 as a low and will barely raise up past 8.1. now... im wondering if meerwasser would affect the ph? I just recalibrated, probes, added new media to the Co2 scrubber and replaced my kalk solution a week ago.

I'm in a small 35gal with no refugium or sump, not sure if AIO have a hard time keeping ph but would be curious to hear anyone's thoughts... also the ph doesn't change when I open every single window in the house for 5+ hours

Thanks for your input!

 

[Icryhard]

How much surface agitation do you have? I used to have this problem as well and eventually stopped caring that much over it. My PH is now 8.3 and dips to 8.1. I don't have my windows open for a long time, but I did amp up the surface agitation.

 

[doubleshot00]

Lots of variable here.

How are you testing PH?
Is your tank silent?
Is the top of the tank open to air?
Is your skimmer working properly?
What kind of co2 media are you using?
What's the surface of the water in the tank look like?

I would do a test. Open the farthest window from one point of the house to the other to see if you can get a draft going. Then leave it like that for 4-6 hours. Let your AC to continue to run.

 

[Vdlibrtr]

How much surface agitation do you have? I used to have this problem as well and eventually stopped caring that much over it. My PH is now 8.3 and dips to 8.1. I don't have my windows open for a long time, but I did amp up the surface

There's a good amount, constant ripples from the return, also have my skimmer going. i also tested my nutrients and they seem.to be dropping, what usually has been 5 nitrate and .03-.06 phos is now almost bottoming out 0 nitrate and .01 phos.

 

[Vdlibrtr]

Lots of variable here.

How are you testing PH?
Is your tank silent?
Is the top of the tank open to air?
Is your skimmer working properly?
What kind of co2 media are you using?
What's the surface of the water in the tank look like?

I would do a test. Open the farthest window from one point of the house to the other to see if you can get a draft going. Then leave it like that for 4-6 hours. Let your AC to continue to run.

Ph is tested and monitor with an apex jr and also a pinpoint marine ph monitor

I'm not sure what you mean by silent.

The tank is open to air, no lid.

Skimmer is working well and producing bubbles and skimmate, running on the drier side by choice

I'm using the icekap pellets as co2 media, changed less than a week ago, also dampened.

surface agitation is a constant ripple, any more agitation and it would be splashing.

I've done the open window, ac on, etc multiple times and never noticed a difference that would be outside of a margin of error for the probes.

Thank you!!

 

[doubleshot00]

Ph is tested and monitor with an apex jr and also a pinpoint marine ph monitor

I'm not sure what you mean by silent.

The tank is open to air, no lid.

Skimmer is working well and producing bubbles and skimmate, running on the drier side by choice

I'm using the icekap pellets as co2 media, changed less than a week ago, also dampened.

surface agitation is a constant ripple, any more agitation and it would be splashing.

I've done the open window, ac on, etc multiple times and never noticed a difference that would be outside of a margin of error for the probes.

Thank you!!

An example I can show on my tank is this. Had a little party at my house Sunday afternoon. 10-15 people within 5ft of the tank and house was closed up. PH tanked to 8.08. Next day I opened the windows and doors up. Only ones home were kids and dogs. Got a high of 8.5

IMO if that's not working for you then something is off. Maybe the co2 media is no good. Get a fan and blow it on the surface of the water.

 

[Vdlibrtr]

An example I can show on my tank is this. Had a little party at my house Sunday afternoon. 10-15 people within 5ft of the tank and house was closed up. PH tanked to 8.08. Next day I opened the windows and doors up. Only ones home were kids and dogs. Got a high of 8.5

IMO if that's not working for you then something is off. Maybe the co2 media is no good. Get a fan and blow it on the surface of the water.

thanks! I'll give it another shot and pay attention over a 24 hour period, ill definitely get a fan and test that as well. thanks for the input!

on a slight side note... do you think me adding the trace elements ive been missing has kick started some sort of uptick in the tank causing my nutrients to start dropping and also affecting ph?

thanks again

 

[doubleshot00]

thanks! I'll give it another shot and pay attention over a 24 hour period, ill definitely get a fan and test that as well. thanks for the input!

on a slight side note... do you think me adding the trace elements ive been missing has kick started some sort of uptick in the clank causing my nutrients to start dropping and also affecting ph?

thanks again

Doubt it but maybe someone smarter will chime in.

@Randy Holmes-Farley ????